


i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

by solange_lol



Series: Solangelo Week 2019 [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: College AU, M/M, Overuse of italics, Solangelo Week, Sun/Moon - Freeform, long distance, this isnt great but its something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 18:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19340254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solange_lol/pseuds/solange_lol
Summary: Long distance was hard. Harder than Nico imagined.Solangelo Week Day 1 - Sun/Moon





	i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

**Author's Note:**

> oh man this fic is all over the place i wrote it in the span of an hour and a half. feel free to point out mistakes if you notice any bc i defiantly didnt read this over  
> the reasoning for how this fits into "sun/moon" is the timezones that come with being in long distance,,, and thats all i got
> 
> also i tried to base this around "i carry your heart" and failed because i forgot thats what i was basing it around whoops
> 
> happy reading!!!!!!!!!

Long distance was hard. Harder than Nico imagined, and for all the wrong reasons too.

He expected the emptiness; the off feeling in his stomach. He knew what it was like to miss someone. (He’s been missing someone since he was ten years old, after all). The way his heart felt heavy in his chest when he had to watch Will’s face light up through a screen rather than right next to him. He knew how to _deal_ with those ones.

What he didn’t expect was the doubt. There was a dark shadow that fell over him the moment he found he was going to study abroad in Italy for a semester; it only settled in as the thrill wore off and the date crept closer. Before he knew it, he was gone for six months with no Will. Instantly, there was a voice in the back of his head telling him, _yeah, six months isn’t long but is it_ too _long?_ They had only been dating for six months, and it already felt like a lifetime together.

Was this the universe’s way of telling them that _maybe it just wasn’t meant to be?_

Nico was so caught up in the program and trying his best to make friends for the short time he was there that he never found time to come home until Thanksgiving. Sure, Will tried to visit Nico, but being a broke college student didn’t make that too easy.

The worst part was the timezones. By the time Nico was awake, Will would just be falling asleep.  Multiple nights in a row, Nico found himself staying up until the early hours of the morning just so he could try and satisfy the never-ending craving in his heart. He’d walk into class that day, coffee in hand and yawning every other minute. The small group of friends he made there would just nod in understanding. Many of them were also exchange students in situations much like him, and that would talk it out over lunch. Other’s, who had lived there their whole life, just gave him a sympathetic look and offered to listen. Nico never really talked too much to those kids.

It got to a point where his grades started to slip, and he was nearly kicked out of the program. The fight he had with Will that night left them in tears and out of touch for nearly a week. He was still trying to block that one out.

That was a while ago, though, and things were better now. The only downside of focusing on his own life was not feeding into that craving, fueled by communication with Will. Sure, they theoretically had their whole lives to spend together, and Nico knew that rationally this was when he was supposed to focus on his future.

Really though, the only thing he knew for sure about his future is that he wanted Will in it.

That’s what he had to remind himself every time breaking up with Will crossed his mind. And it seemed to be happening more as the weeks pass by. _That isn’t what he wants though, right?_

Nico felt like banging his head against the wall a few hundred times. Maybe that would clear it. Instead, he resorted to lying down on the desk with his head in his arms.

Not only a second later did he feel a sharp jab in his side.

He turned his head, glaring at the culprit. “Are you ever going to cut those things?”

His friend, and current enemy, Reyna, just grinned wickedly. “Nope,” she said, wriggling perfectly manicured nails, which resembles more of _claws_ at the moment. (How she gets anything done with them, Nico still didn’t understand.) “I need a weapon of defense.” (Also untrue, she had a pocket knife hidden somewhere in her bag, as well as a glare hard enough it scared _him_ ).

“Not even when you visit your girlfriend next week? That would be, like, the wrong kind of scissoring.”

Reyna smacked him. Hard. He had it coming, to be honest.

“First of all, Thalia’s ace. Second of all, don’t get jealous. You act like an asshole when you do.”

“Not jealous of anything,” Nico mumbles, slumping back in his seat.

Reyna pus down the pen she was previously fiddling with. “You’ve been acting weird about it ever since I told you I was leaving. What’s wrong?”

“Missing Will. Nothing new.”

As if on cue, like he could detect Nico’s sour mood, his phone buzzed with a text from Will.

 **[12:11] From: Will <3: ** _just had to read this prom for english. made me think of you. maybe you know it?_

Attached was a link to “i carry your heart” by E.E. Cummings. Nico _did_ know it. In fact, he did an entire presentation in high school analyzing it, which is why he couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself as he typed his response.

 **[12:11] To: Will <3:** _you know that poem is about pregnancy, right?_

 **[12:12] To: Will <3: ** _unless you have something you want to tell me_

Will’s response was quick, and Nico had to cover his mouth in order not to burst out giggling in the middle of class.

 **[12:13] From: Will <3: ** _what???!!! but i watched a video adaptation and it was a long distance couple! and the authors a guy!!!_

 **[12:13] To: Will <3:** _think about it: in what situation would you be carrying another heart in your own body_

 **[12:13] From: Will <3: ** _heart transplant???????_

This time, Nico wasn’t ready for the laugh that bubbled out of him. He quickly clamped a hand over his mouth as Reyna and half of his classmates turned to look at him.

 **[12:15] To: Will <3:** _irrelevant_

 **[12:15] From: Will <3:** _future surgeon here telling you that actually heart transplants are VERY relevant_

 **[12:16] To: Will <3: ** _for you, maybe. go back to class there, doctor, or you’ll never learn how to do one_

After a few minutes without a response, Nico concluded that his boyfriend decided to listen to him. He put his phone down on the desk, chest aching.

A minute later, there was another sharp jab in his side.

“ _Ow!_ ” Nico whisper-yelled at Reyna. “You have _got_ to stop doing that.”

“Sorry,” she whispered back, looking not very sorry at all. “But I came up with a plan.”

* * *

 

Will had been calling Nico every night for weeks ever since he “gave” him a plane ticket to visit him in Italy as an early Christmas gift. In any other circumstance, Will would have refused, but it _had_ been five months after all. He did his best to keep up the act and talk in the same excited tone while swamped in the massive piles of work he had to do in order for the plan to work.

Nico felt for a second like he should be guilty that he didn’t really give him anything at all until he reminded himself that what Will was really getting was much better.

It was an agonizing near-11 hour flight, especially considering how much Nico hated planes. Almost made him wish that he did just buy a ticket for Will.

 _Stop that,_ he told himself. _It’s the last time you’ll be taking one, anyway._

The moment he stepped off the plane and into the airport, his phone rang.

“I just got to the airport,” Will breathed, and Nico could practically hear him smiling. “I’m so excited I don’t even care that it’ll be another 12 hours until I see you.”

“I know,” Nico said, and his own smile grew knowing it wouldn’t be that long until he _really_ saw Will. He quickened his pace, hoping he could catch Will before he saw him. He walked through a set of doors and immediately spotted a familiar head of curly blonde hair talking on the phone with the biggest smile. Nico felt like his heart was exploding. _Bingo._

“Speaking of which, you still need to text me the plane ticket,” Will reminded him, and Nico wanted to laugh, laugh as loud as he possibly could because he could see, _actually see,_ the playful sternness in Will’s face now and _oh God, he missed him so much._

Instead, he quietly crept behind him. Luckily, Will seemed so wrapped up in their conversation he didn’t seem to notice him. “I know, I know.”

Will laughed. “I swear, your voice just became so clear. Maybe I just have my ears trained to only hear you, even in a crowded airport.”

“Will.” Nico lowered his phone, speaking as loud as he could without yelling. “Turn around.”

(He set a mental reminder to thank Reyna for this plan because the look on Will’s face was one he hoped to never forget).

It was like a moment out of a movie. Will turned, disbelief in his face turning into pure joy the minute he spotted his boyfriend.

“Nico!” he yelled, before running forward without hesitation right into Nico’s waiting arms.

Nico wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Apparently, he doesn’t have to decide, because he finds himself doing both as he whispers “Hey.” There was nothing to describe the emotion in being able to hug Will again, to just hold him in his arms without the knowledge that at some point, he’s going to let go.

He’s not letting go. Not this time.

“I thought you weren’t coming home until you were done with school there?” Will finally pulls away, still holding onto Nico’s hands.

“I am done with school.”

Suddenly, Will’s face falls. “What? You didn’t drop out, did you?”

“No, no, of course not. I went to my teachers and requested that I get ahead of work so I can leave a month early. It’s not that uncommon, actually,” he grins, breathless by the moment. “I’m done. Officially.”

Will’s smiling again, and they’re both crying still. Nico can’t believe he ever considered breaking up with him. It was so, _so_ worth it in the end.

“You're here? Like, here to stay?” Will chokes out.

Nico nods. “Here to stay.”

And suddenly Will is kissing him. He just about drops everything in his hands so they’re free to tangle amongst his curls.

He doesn’t even care that they’re in the middle of an airport.

It feels so right. He’s home for good.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!!! more on tumblr @solange-lol
> 
> if you wanna participate in solangeloweek, im cohosting it along with buoyantsaturn and bookplush/unweildyink!!! you can hop on down to @solangeloweek on tumblr and check out all our prompts for this week! its an 8 day event, so you still have plenty of time to participate, plus late submissions are always accepted


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